Yorùbá uses the Latin script but with diacritics for tones and special letters (ẹ, gb, ṣ, etc.), and in the official orthography there are 25 basic letters plus digraphs that function as single units in the language. Tone marks (acute ´ for high tone, grave ` for low tone, unmarked for mid tone) are not separate letters, but they’re critical and we’ll note them in the grapheme interpretation.
Yorùbá Alphabet
1. A
- Name (Yorùbá): a
- Graphemes: a (alpha/aleph, origin)
- Chain: A → a → a
2. B
- Name: bé
- Graphemes: b (beta/beth, house) + é (epsilon + acute)
- Chain: B → bé → b + é
3. D
- Name: dé
- Graphemes: d (delta/dalet, door) + é
- Chain: D → dé → d + é
4. E
- Name: e
- Graphemes: e (epsilon/he, window)
- Chain: E → e → e
5. Ẹ
- Name: ẹ
- Graphemes: e + underdot (lower-mid vowel)
- Chain: Ẹ → ẹ → e + underdot
6. F
- Name: fé
- Graphemes: f (digamma/waw, division) + é
- Chain: F → fé → f + é
7. G
- Name: gé
- Graphemes: g (gamma/gimel) + é
- Chain: G → gé → g + é
8. GB
- Name: gbé
- Graphemes: g + b + é
- Chain: GB → gbé → g + b + é
9. H
- Name: há
- Graphemes: h (heth, breath) + á (a + acute)
- Chain: H → há → h + á
10. I
- Name: i
- Graphemes: i (iota/yod, point)
- Chain: I → i → i
11. J
- Name: jé
- Graphemes: j (iota/gamma hook form) + é
- Chain: J → jé → j + é
12. K
- Name: ká
- Graphemes: k (kappa/kaph) + á
- Chain: K → ká → k + á
13. L
- Name: lé
- Graphemes: l (lambda/lamed) + é
- Chain: L → lé → l + é
14. M
- Name: mé
- Graphemes: m (mu/mem, water) + é
- Chain: M → mé → m + é
15. N
- Name: né
- Graphemes: n (nu/nun, life) + é
- Chain: N → né → n + é
16. O
- Name: o
- Graphemes: o (omicron/ayin, circle)
- Chain: O → o → o
17. Ọ
- Name: ọ
- Graphemes: o + underdot (open-mid vowel)
- Chain: Ọ → ọ → o + underdot
18. P
- Name: pé
- Graphemes: p (pi/pe) + é
- Chain: P → pé → p + é
19. R
- Name: ré
- Graphemes: r (rho/resh, head) + é
- Chain: R → ré → r + é
20. S
- Name: sé
- Graphemes: s (sigma/shin) + é
- Chain: S → sé → s + é
21. Ṣ
- Name: ṣé
- Graphemes: s + underdot (postalveolar/retroflex fricative) + é
- Chain: Ṣ → ṣé → ṣ + é
22. T
- Name: té
- Graphemes: t (tau/taw, mark) + é
- Chain: T → té → t + é
23. U
- Name: u
- Graphemes: u (upsilon/waw, vessel)
- Chain: U → u → u
24. W
- Name: wé
- Graphemes: w (double-u/upsilon-derived) + é
- Chain: W → wé → w + é
25. Y
- Name: yé
- Graphemes: y (upsilon/yod) + é
- Chain: Y → yé → y + é
Tone Integration Notes
- High tone: acute accent (´) marks the vowel’s higher pitch.
- Low tone: grave accent (`) marks the vowel’s lower pitch.
- Mid tone: unmarked.
- Tone marks are not separate letters but are part of the grapheme profile in written Yorùbá.